“As a figurehead of the Australian hip-hop scene Eso would be seen by many as a representative of the genre. To be clear: he does not speak for us and, on this issue, we do not think like him. Some of his fans may defend this behaviour, but look on social media and you’ll see rappers from all over Australia (Jimblah, Dialect, Chance Waters, Omar Musa etc) speaking out against it.

“One can only wonder how the staff at Triple J, a station that has been vital to the success of Bliss N Eso, would be feeling about this. They must have standards too. They might be or know females who have been victims of domestic abuse. They may not find it funny.”

Rapper Dialect tweeted “If being a success/rich off music means your mentality toward women & domestic violence is allowed to be a joke may I die poor & a failure.”

However, some local musicians are hoping one positive to come out of the ugly incident will be to change attitudes towards women in hip hop.

Questions ... Sydney rapper The Tongue has written an open letter about Eso’s Instagram posts.Source: Supplied

Rapper Urthboy has pointed out Eso had previously mentioned Chris Brown’s assault on Rihanna in his lyrics.

“One of Eso’s lyrics is ‘hitting that bitch like Chris Brown’ and no one made a deal,” Urthboy tweeted. “Can’t remember a single mention. We are complicit.”

He also noted “Sexism gets a free pass in hip hop. Look no further than the imbalance of gender on stages.”

The Tongue also joined in the chorus of people not satisfied with Eso’s apology which repeated that he thought the pictures were funny, prior to the backlash.

Eso posted “The photos were not intended to promote violence and were shot in a comedic manner, which upon reflection I realise was in bad taste and unacceptable.”

“What exactly is the funny part about a young woman being beaten, Eso?,” The Tongue wrote. “Despite your very recent apology, two days ago you did think it was funny, I’d love to hear your explanation. Ever thought about taking a trip down to a women’s shelter to see how funny it is? Or would that just be a little too real for you?”

“Eso finished off his Instagram apology with three new hashtags: “#peace #love #unity”. 24 hours earlier it was #shelovesthewayithurts and #smackmybitchup.

“Here’s a new hashtag you may want to use if your sister or your daughter or your mother have ever been stalked or choked or had their teeth knocked out due to domestic violence: #notgoodenoughEso”

The parade of vulgarity continues, but this time it's making jokes about a woman being brutally beaten. Not on. Eso should apologise ASAP.

“Eso, if you are reading this, now is the time to be a leader. Now is the time to take charge on an issue that will affect one in three Australian women. One quick apology is not the end of the story. This isn’t about feminism; it’s about basic decency. It’s about acknowledging and respecting the power of your influence. You have nearly 600,000 Facebook fans for Christ’s sake — that’s an incredible opportunity to make a positive impact, preach to your few misguided followers and lift the standard. Don’t give the critics another chance to blame hip-hop; instead, use it as a tool to educate and uplift, just like KRS-One and Chuck D and Talib Kweli and Tupac did … just like our heroes did. Be better. You owe it to your fans, to hip-hop and to yourself.”

Local musician Chance Waters, friends with Eso, said he believed the rapper meant no malice, however felt that his comments highlighted a major problem in society.

“I think Eso has done the right thing by apologising and acknowledging the insensitivity of his posts, in my opinion there’s little to be gained from witch hunting him as a few sites are encouraging; there are simply much bigger fish to fry.” Waters wrote.

“The real problem is not just the jokes he made but how readily accepted they were by the majority of people who read them and what this says about our cultural awareness of this situation. When a generally progressive and well-liked artist who himself would never engage in violence against women feels comfortable engaging in obvious misogyny there is evidence of a much bigger problem — I feel this probably goes for all of us.”

Triple J have been approached for comment on the controversy.

If being a success/ rich off music means your mentality toward women & domestic violence is allowed to be a joke may I die poor & a failure.

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